Newellton, Louisiana
Newellton is west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake. Further south toward St. Joseph, the parish seat of government, is another ox-bow lake, Lake Bruin, a part of which is the popular Lake Bruin State Park.
History
Newellton itself was founded in the early 19th century by the Routh family, for whom the defunct Routhwood Elementary School was named. John David Stokes Newell Sr., a planter and lawyer in St. Joseph, the seat of Tensas Parish, named the settlement for his father, Edward, a native of North Carolina who relocated to Tensas Parish in 1834.
Newellton was designated a village in 1904. On April 4, 1951, under Mayor T. T. Hargrove, Newellton was upgraded to a town through the state Lawrason Act.
In March 2014, Newellton became debt-free.
Geography
Newellton is located at 32°4′22″N 91°14′21″W / 32.07278°N 91.23917°W (32.072740, -91.239230).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.9 square miles (2.3 km), of which 0.8 square miles (2.1 km) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km) (12.64%) is water.
Demographics
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | 424 | — | |
| 1920 | 541 | 27.6% | |
| 1930 | 627 | 15.9% | |
| 1940 | 789 | 25.8% | |
| 1950 | 1,280 | 62.2% | |
| 1960 | 1,453 | 13.5% | |
| 1970 | 1,403 | −3.4% | |
| 1980 | 1,726 | 23.0% | |
| 1990 | 1,576 | −8.7% | |
| 2000 | 1,482 | −6.0% | |
| 2010 | 1,187 | −19.9% | |
| 2020 | 886 | −25.4% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
| Race | Num. | Perc. |
|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 198 | 22.35% |
| Black or African American (non-Hispanic) | 645 | 72.8% |
| Other/Mixed | 31 | 3.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 12 | 1.35% |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 886 people, 403 households, and 245 families residing in the town.
Politics
In 2012, the former Newellton mayor, Democrat Alex Davis (born 1942), did not seek a fourth term. The first African American in the position, Davis unseated the 34-year incumbent Edwin G. Preis Sr., a white businessman, in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 7, 2000. Davis received 366 votes (56.8 percent) to Preis' 184 (28.6 percent), and Floyd Aaron "Coonie" McVay's 94 votes (14.6 percent). A native of Oak Grove in West Carroll Parish, McVay was formerly the Newellton police chief. He died in 2012 at the age of eighty.
The current mayor is the African-American Democrat Timothy Durell Turner, the former District 1 alderman, who won the election held on December 8, 2012, by a single vote, 217-216, over the Republican candidate, James Carroll Fuller Sr. (1936-2021), the former District 5 alderman. Fuller, who is white, is a former resident of Braxton, Mississippi, and Denham Springs, Louisiana. Fuller had led Turner, 259 (44.7 percent) to 207 (35.8 percent), in the higher-turnout primary election held on November 6, with another 113 votes (19.5 percent) then cast for a second Democrat, Knola Ransome.
In 2016, Fuller again challenged Turner and once again lost by one vote, 210 for Fuller and 211 for Turner.
Fuller earlier was among 582 Louisiana elected officials named to former Governor Bobby Jindal's "Kitchen Cabinet Leadership Team". Two other Tensas Parish officials appointed to the panel were Assessor Irby Gamble and Coroner Keith D. Butler, both of St. Joseph.
The Newellton police chief, Johnny Gales (1951-2021), a Democrat, was reelected in 2012. There are five municipal alderman, one of whom, Lavone G. Garner from District 5, is a Republican. She was elected to succeed Carroll Fuller, who left the council with his first race for mayor.
As of 2013, there were four police officers and Chief Gales in Newellton, with two marked cars and one unmarked, and eighteen volunteer firefighters. The town clerk is Rhonda King (born 1953).
Notable people
- Andrew F. Brimmer (1926-2012), economist and first African American to serve as governor of the Federal Reserve System who was born in Newellton
- Sarah Dorsey, author, historian, and benefactor of Jefferson Davis, lived at the Routh Plantation near Newellton in the early 1850s.
- Emmitt Douglas, president of the Louisiana NAACP from 1966 until his death in 1981.
- C.B. Forgotston (born in Newellton in 1945; died 2016) was a lawyer in Hammond and a state government watchdog and political activist. Forgotston graduated from Newellton High School in 1962. He was a frequent guest on The Moon Griffon Show radio talk program.
- Clyde V. Ratcliff (1879-1952), member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1944 to 1948; planter in Newellton
- Thomas M. Wade (1860-1929), member of Louisiana House of Representatives from 1888 to 1904, Louisiana State Board of Education, and Tensas Parish School Board; Tensas school superintendent for some twenty years after 1904
- Leon "Pee Wee" Whittaker, African American trombonist, was born near Newellton.
Gallery
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Numerous businesses in downtown Newellton have been closed for many years. -
The Tensas State Bank building in Newellton -
U.S. Post Office at 930 Verona Street in Newellton -
Newellton Grain Elevator -
Winter Quarters State Historic Site near Newellton -
Dixie Dandy grocery has existed in Newellton since 1967; it is located at 1109 Verona Street at the intersection with U.S. Highway 65. -
The Newellton Place Apartments at 100 Routh Street is among newer housing available in Newellton. -
The historic Newellton Union Church (established 1890) is a nondenominational congregation at 1916 Highway 605. -
First Baptist Church at 1822 Highway 605 in Newellton (2008 photo); then pastor Dennis Campbell -
Renovated First Baptist Church (2010 photo); FBC celebrated its 75th anniversary on August 22, 2010; pastor Warren J. Hoffman (September 2013) -
The former Newellton High School now houses Newellton Elementary at 400 Verona Street. -
The abandoned former Routhwood Elementary School in Newellton -
Abandoned Tensas Medical Center on Verona Street in Newellton -
Legion Memorial Cemetery, a well-maintained facility off Louisiana Highway 605 north of Newellton, was established in 1943.
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